#trahb

Of course, Sebastian did his best to ignore the moments when the pixie would react fearfully to something he did. He could tell by the way she always tried to play the reactions off that she was embarrassed by them. For that reason, he pretended as if he didn’t notice and that it didn’t faze him. 

Over the past couple weeks, Ambry had seemed to progressively get more comfortable with Sebastian’s presence. At the very least, the startled yelps and winces had become less frequent. He hoped she was really getting used to the human world and not just putting on a brave face. 

Sebastian sighed, running a hand through his white bangs. He had never been particularly great with people beyond surface level niceties. The bond between a witch and their companion was meant to be something special, he didn’t want to screw it up by making Ambry afraid of him. 

That had been a big reason Sebastian had decided she needed her own private, appropriately portioned space. For the past two weeks she’d been sleeping in a doll’s bed on his bedside table. From the start he had known it would be a temporary set-up, but he hadn’t known what to replace it with until a friend from his coven informed him of a local witch that specialized in shrinking magic. The witch owned a shop that crafted incredibly detailed miniature houses, and when Sebastian had informed her that the house would be inhabited by a pixie, she had eagerly offered to equip it with working electricity and running water. 

The finished house was now set up on a table in the corner of Sebastian’s room, and while it had come with a set of furniture, Ambry had insisted she wanted to decorate the place herself. It was for that reason that the pixie was currently standing on a spread of newspapers atop the kitchen table, painting intricate designs on a tiny wooden wardrobe. 

Sebastian was determined to give her space, he didn’t want to loom over her while she was trying to work. So instead of sitting at the table with her, he had taken to busying himself with cooking dinner. Originally, he’d been planning on ordering out tonight, but considering he needed something to keep himself out of Ambry’s way, he decided to whip something up instead. 

The vegetable and chicken medley had just gone into the oven to cook when Sebastian heard a frustrated grunt come from the table. Glancing across the peninsula, he caught sight of Ambry attempting to move the now finished wardrobe. She didn’t seriously plan on attempting to carry that thing all the way to the bedroom by herself, did she? Of course, she had demonstrated somewhat of a reluctance to accept too much physical help from Sebastian. It wasn’t completely far-fetched to imagine that she was trying to avoid requesting human assistance. 

Letting out a soft sigh, Sebastian set down the knife he had been rinsing off and made his way over to the kitchen table. It was impossible for him not to notice the way Ambry froze as soon as he began to approach. As he stepped up beside the table, the pixie backed away from the wardrobe and turned to stare up at him. 

First, Sebastian took a moment to appreciate Ambry’s handiwork. The once plain wooden piece of furniture was now covered in intricate vines and flowers of various colors. It definitely matched Ambry’s personality much better now. “It looks good,” he noted. “I can take that to your house for you.” Without hesitating, Sebastian reached down and plucked up the wardrobe in one hand. As he lifted it up from the table, he couldn’t help but notice the wide eyed look Ambry was suddenly giving him. 

Sebastian stiffened as the pixie’s vibrant yellow eyes  looked up at him in what almost seemed like awe. Looks of simple fear or anxiety he was used to, but this wasn’t that. Although, whatever this reaction was also made him uncomfortable, just in a different way. “Stop looking at me like that,” Sebastian found himself saying before he could stop himself. 

As if his words had shattered a spell she’d been under, Ambry’s stare broke as she shook her head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” she apologized with a chuckle. With a seemingly effortless flutter of her wings, Ambry lifted up into the air so that she hovered closer to Sebastian’s eye level. “It’s just wild seeing you pick up something so heavy like that.” 

While Ambry seemed to be very determined not to appear too intimidated by everything around her, that didn’t mean she was afraid to talk about the subject of size disparity altogether. After only a couple days of knowing each other, Ambry had taken to playfully referring to humans as “giants.” She’d even marveled at how big his bed was the first time she had seen it. It was almost like she was fine talking about size so long as it was in a lighthearted manner. 

Glancing at the miniature wardrobe he held in his hand, Sebastian took note of its weight. Because it was made from real wood, the thing was fairly hefty relative to its size. Still, there was no muscular strain from holding it. To him, it wasn’t heavy. Of course, Ambry had a completely different perspective. She’d just been struggling to move it even a couple inches across the surface of the table. 

Sebastian gave a shrug. “You act impressed by that as you’re flying.” Being able to fly was as natural as breathing to pixies, but Sebastian still found himself wowed by it whenever he saw Ambry do it. He’d encountered other flying creatures before meeting Ambry, like griffins and harpies, but they lacked the aerial grace that pixies possessed. It was easy for Sebastian to feel big and clunky around someone so lithe and agile. 

Ambry looked slightly taken aback by Sebastian’s comment at first, but her expression quickly shifted into a smirk. “I don’t blame you for being jealous, I am a top-notch flier,” she teased. 

“I don’t have any other pixies to compare you to so I guess I’m forced to believe you,” Sebastian remarked. He allowed the corners of his mouth to pull up in a small smile. 

“Exactly,” Ambry declared, her hands planted firmly on her hips. “Now be careful with that wardrobe. I wouldn’t want all my hardwork getting ruined by a big clumsy human.” 

Ambry’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t like this Kole guy’s tone one bit. And it was becoming increasingly clear that he wasn’t some friend or associate of Sebastian’s. Which meant he was an intruder, most likely a thief come to try and acquire some of Sebastian’s more valuable magical items. “You need to get out now.” She growled, hands balling into fists at her sides. 

Kole took a few steps further into the room, causing Ambry’s body to tense up immediately. “I can’t do that, not after I waited so patiently for the perfect moment to come in.” He said smoothly. 

Ambry raised a questioning eyebrow. “Why not wait until the house was empty if you were itching to rob the place?” She asked. “Unless you’re not as smooth a criminal as you think you are and neglected to realize your target has a companion.” 

A low laugh came from the intruder. “Well that’s easy.” He said with a smirk. “I’m not here to steal some of your witch’s trinkets, I’m here for you.” 

A chill ran down Ambry’s spine at those words. What had been the first thing Kole had said upon entering the house? ‘There you are’ right as his eyes landed on her. This wasn’t a robbery, this was a kidnapping.

“What the hell do you want with me?” She hissed. At first she wondered if he was after her pixie dust. But she quickly dismissed that idea. Pixie dust may be valuable, but Ambry knew it was plentiful enough that there really wasn’t a black market for it. So then why take the risk of pissing off a witch by abducting his companion?

Kole raised a finger as he began to make his way even closer to Ambry. “Ah, I see your witch friend decided not to tell you.” He mused, stopping a few feet away from the coffee table. 

Ambry flew back a few inches further from the man. “Tell me what?” She asked through gritted teeth. 

Kole chuckled. “Your wings, they’re worth a small fortune.” Ambry’s eyebrows shot up. Her wings? She had never once heard anything about pixie wings being worth anything. A pixie’s wings were a part of their body. It was bizarre, like telling a human their arm was especially valuable. “You see, pixie wings are the key ingredient in the most powerful healing potion ever created.” Kole continued. “Of course the Council banned the potion a long time ago, but there are certain people who are more than willing to bend the rules to obtain such a potent concoction.” 

‘Key ingredient?’ ‘Healing potion’? How had Sebastian never told her about any of this? Surely he must have known, the guy was basically a walking encyclopedia of magic knowledge. 

“Considering you pixies so rarely stray from your isolated little civilizations, a pixie wing potion hasn’t been brewed in who knows how long.” Kole remarked. “But when I caught wind that a local witch had gotten himself a pixie for a companion, well I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that.”

Ambry had heard enough. In a flash she zipped over to the small potted plant sitting on the entertainment center. All it took was her fingertips grazing one of the leaves for her to establish a connection with the organism. 

All magical beings were connected to a specific branch of the Mageum. Creatures such as ghosts and ghouls were connected to the Spirit Sphere. Werewolves, harpies, and the like were connected to the Animal Sphere, and so on. As for pixies, they were connected to the Earth Sphere. This meant that their magic was derived from the earth itself. This allowed them to manipulate the natural features of the earth with just a touch. And it was with this ability that Ambry intended to defend herself. 

In an instant, a thick green vine shot out of the once tame houseplant. The tendril kept growing rapidly until it had snaked its way around Kole’s right arm. Before the man could attempt to use his other arm to free himself, an offshoot of the first vine launched itself at his left arm, quickly giving it the same treatment as the right. 

A look of frustration flashed on Kole’s face momentarily before his eyes focused back in on Ambry. He gave a dry chuckle. “Well aren’t you a wily one.” He stood there, immobilized but looking completely at ease. It sent a shiver across Ambry’s skin. He looked plenty stuck but why risk leaving him bound only by his arms?

Ambry adjusted her grip on the plant, ready to send another vine for Kole’s legs, but she never got the chance. Suddenly the man’s arms ignited into red and yellow flames. Ambry gasped, only able to watch as the fire quickly burnt away the vines and yet miraculously left the clothing and skin of Kole’s arms completely undamaged. 

So he was a witch. Ambry should have guessed given how effortlessly he’d broken into the house. This was bad, very bad. He wasn’t just some standard human thug. That she could handle on her own just fine. But a witch, not to mention a witch who seemed quite adept at wandless magic, was a whole other ballpark.

If there was one thing Ambry hated it was backing down. She was as stubborn as a mule and hated to lose. However, she knew when she was outmatched. She was dealing with a surprise attack from an unknown opponent who had clearly come prepared. Her best bet was to flee while she had the chance. 

Not wasting a moment, Ambry darted towards the open door to Sebastian’s bedroom. The window had been left open a crack, just enough room for her to squeeze through. However, before she could make it past the door frame, a blast of blue energy abruptly enveloped her. The moment the energy made contact with her, she felt every muscle in her body go rigid. In an instant she had gone from flying to plummeting uncontrollably to the floor. 

Ambry couldn’t even close her eyes to stop herself from seeing the fast approaching ground. It wasn’t too high of a drop, she wouldn’t die, but she had little doubt that she’d end up with at least one broken limb. But before her body could collide violently with the hardwood floor, a massive hand suddenly shot out underneath her. Ambry dropped easily into the palm and the moment she made contact with the warm skin she found her body freed from the magic that had been holding it immobile.

With her senses finally together enough to finally fully wake up, Ambry’s eyes flew open. The moment they did, memories of the past couple hours began to flood in. She’d been abducted by Kole, stuck in his grasp, and then...then she’d done something drastic, something that explained why the surface she was resting on was so absurdly big.

Ambry swallowed down a wave of intimidation as she shifted into a sitting position atop Sebastian’s palm. She had been in the human’s hand before, but she had been quite a bit bigger then. Now her entire body easily fit into the cup of his palm.

With the massive black clad wall that was Sebastian’s chest blocking one side, and his right hand blocking the other, Ambry couldn’t see much of the world around them. From the glimpses she got though, she could tell they were outside, walking down a street in the city. Normally she would have considered Sebastian’s behavior to be smothering, but at that moment she was honestly grateful. She didn’t think she could handle experiencing the whole world at an increased scale right now.

“Ambry?” A voice softly called from above. Ambry had to tilt her head back quite far in order to see Sebastian’s vast facing staring down at her in concern.

The up and down movement she’d been experiencing, which she now realized had been Sebastian’s gait, came to stop, indicating he had halted his journey.

“H-hey.” Ambry greeted with an awkward wave. “I can’t believe how huge he is!” She thought to herself incredulously. Any natural, instinctual fear she’d had of creatures of human size now seemed to be on overdrive. Despite knowing the human holding her was a friend that would look out for her, Ambry’s increased heart rate and the nervous sweat developing on her brow told her that her body didn’t buy it.

“She’s awake?” Ambry jumped slightly at the sound of Adrien’s voice coming from somewhere out of her view.

“How are you feeling? Are you hurt?” Sebastian questioned, managing to keep his voice low and steady despite the urgency in his tone.

Ambry shook her head. “I’m fine, just a little lightheaded is all.” She called up to the witch, being sure to raise her voice so it would reach his faraway ears.

A small yelp slipped out from the pixie’s mouth when the hand she was sitting on suddenly began to move upwards. The movement was slow and careful, but still jarring for the tiny passenger. When Sebastian’s palm stopped its ascent in front of his face, Ambry hurriedly tried to compose herself.

Rather than saying something immediately as she had expected, Sebastian remained silent while his deep green eyes carefully inspected the pixie resting in the palm of his hand.

While Ambry liked being the center of attention at times, she did not like being an object of close examination. Having such a massive being drink in every detail of her much smaller form gave her a swirly feeling in her stomach.

A touch of red began to tinge Ambry’s cheeks. “Wh-what are you doing?” She asked, shifting uncomfortably.

There was a pause, in which Sebastian didn’t respond and instead continued to look Ambry over. Just when she was about to snap at him to knock it off, he moved the hand containing Ambry slightly down and away from his face. “Physically you look alright.” He noted, some of the tension in his face easing up. “Let’s just get you home, then we can discuss things.” Ambry gave a small nod of agreement.

With that, Sebastian returned his hands to the position they had been in when Ambry woke up before setting off again. While she still wasn’t able to catch sight of him, she could hear Adrien’s footsteps following behind Sebastian. She was once again appreciative of Adrien’s ability to know what a person needed without having to ask. Rather than get close to Sebastian and crowd Ambry, he had elected to stay back and out of view so as to not overwhelm her. She’d have to find a way to thank him for his consideration later.

The rest of the trip from there was brief. It was only a couple of minutes before they reached home. Once inside the house, Sebastian made his way to the kitchen. He pulled up a stool at the peninsula before very slowly lowering the hand holding Ambry down to the surface of the counter. Taking the cue, she rose to her feet and stepped off of the soft palm.

It was at this moment that Ambry finally started to take in the larger environment. As expected, everything looked even bigger and heftier than it used to. The countertop she stood on now was like a vast expanse of endless sleek white marble. Needless to say, she felt positively minuscule.

With cautious and measured movements, Adrien took a seat at the stool beside Sebastian. This left Ambry standing on the countertop with two absolute titans looking down at her. She gulped heavily.

“Your wings, are they ok?” Adrien asked gently. At their mention, Ambry’s wings gave an involuntary twitch. She realized Adrien’s question must have been brought on by the fact that she had opted to continue riding in Sebastian’s hand rather than fly herself. It was true that normally Ambry would have flown by now. And while her wings weren’t injured, they did feel heavy behind her back. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling, she’d experienced it before after flying excessively and overworking herself. This time she wasn’t exhausted from flying, but rather from the size reduction process she had undergone.

“Yeah, I’m just exhausted.” Ambry admitted. “Which is why I passed out earlier.” She tacked on. She supposed it must have been alarming for the two humans to find her not only a couple inches smaller, but also inexplicably unconscious.

“Why--Ambry, what happened to you?” The intensity of Sebastian’s question drew her eyes to meet his. She could see the concern still tugging at his brows, and his pale lips were pressed together in that way they always did when he was fretting over something.

Ambry blew out a sigh. It was time to unveil the pixie secret. While there were no rules or laws in place restricting pixies from revealing their hidden ability to humans, it was something of an unspoken rule that it not be brought up unless necessary. Given that Sebastian had just witnessed Ambry shrink before his very eyes, she figured it was pretty necessary at this point.

“Every pixie has the natural ability to decrease their size at will.” She started, instantly earning wide eyed stares from both of the witches sitting in front of her. “But, because of how draining it is, on top of how fickle and unpredictable it can be, we rarely ever use it.”

“Fickle how?” Sebastian pressed.

Ambry shrugged. “In various ways. For one, it's easy for a pixie to end up shrinking more or less than they meant to.” She explained. “It’s also completely impossible to control how long we remain at our reduced size.” This was the bit that most nagged at the back of Ambry’s mind.

“You won’t stay this size forever, will you?” Adrien inquired.

“As far as I know, a pixie will always return back to their original form eventually. It could take a couple minutes, or a couple weeks.” Ambry had only personally known one pixie who had ever used their shrinking ability. He had done it just to test to see if it would actually work. It had taken four days for him to go back to normal. Apparently there were stories of pixies who had been stuck at their reduced size for nearly a month. There were even some legends that claimed it was possible to stay reduced forever, but those were mostly dismissed as old wives tales.

“So it’s essentially a waiting game.” Adrien concluded.

There were worse things than having to be so small for an indeterminate amount of time, still being in Kole’s hands came to mind. Yet Ambry couldn’t help but be filled with dread at the prospect of potentially being stuck this way for weeks on end. It would be like starting her adjustment to the human world all over again. Not to mention how much more vulnerable she was at this size.

Ambry was forced out of her worrying when she noticed something large steadily approaching her. She instinctively cringed back when Sebastian’s finger got near to her. However, when the fingertip big enough to cover her whole face gently touched her cheek, she found herself surprisingly not pulling away.

His skin was warm, and she could feel the ridges of his fingerprint on her cheek. It was an overwhelming comparison between their individual sizes, and while there was that part of her that was completely intimidated, it was quieter than usual. As Ambry locked eyes with Sebastian, she, in a strange way, actually kind of found his gesture comforting. Sebastian wasn’t particularly good with physical displays of affection or consolation, so for him to even attempt this was shocking in and of itself. But the fact that it was actually sort of working was even more shocking.

“If we have to wait, we have to wait. We’ll do it together.” The white haired witch assured her.

“Yeah, we’ll do whatever we need to make you more comfortable.” Adrien put in, a soft smile on his lips.

Ambry waved a dismissive hand. “You’re lucky I grace you with my presence.” 

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Are you going to give me some of your pixie dust or not?” He questioned, holding up the little glass vial he had pinched between his thumb and index finger. 

This wasn’t the first time Sebastian had requested a dose of her pixie dust, and Ambry doubted it would be the last time. Pixie dust was a versatile ingredient that could be used in many different potions, and considering most pixies lived entirely isolated from humans, it went for pretty high prices at apothecary shops. While Ambry’s hometown had never taken part, she knew some pixie settlements made a business out of selling pixie dust to witches. 

Ambry gave an over dramatic sigh. “Fiiine.” She relented. Giving up pixie dust was completely painless and didn’t affect the pixie at all, but she still liked to give Sebastian a hard time about it. 

“Drama queen.” The witch muttered as he lowered the vial just below Ambry’s wings. 

About a minute of intense fluttering on Ambry’s part was all it took to fill the small glass bottle up with the vibrantly glowing flecks of dust.  “Thank you very much.” Sebastian said with a smirk as he stoppered the bottle and placed it in one of the vial racks. 

“You’re just lucky I’m so generous.” Ambry replied, flying up into the air to land in a seated position on her witch’s shoulder. 

Emerald green eyes flickered over to look at the pixie. “Ah, ah, ah, don’t get comfortable, I have to head out in a minute.” Warned Sebastian. 

“Great, I’ll come with.” Ambry smiled sweetly. 

A barely noticeable mischievous glint appeared in Sebastian’s eyes. “Aaaalright, but I’m going to meet with Hortense.” He drawled.

A look of disgust immediately formed on Ambry’s face. Hortense was one of Sebastian’s regular clients and she was constantly ordering various cosmetic potions. Of course that would be perfectly fine if she was using them on herself and not slipping them into the drinks of her unwitting dates. Sebastian claimed that as long as she wasn’t doing anything harmful then he wasn’t going to refuse one his most consistent customers. Ambry thought the woman was considerably irritating and she found it especially nauseating to see her throwing herself all over Sebastian. 

“I think I’ll stay here.” Ambry announced as if it had been an idea she had come up with entirely on her own and without any persuasion on Sebastian’s part. 

“What a great idea.” Responded the witch. 

A few minutes later and Sebastian had departed, assuring Ambry that he’d be back in an hour, although Ambry had a suspicion that Hortense would do everything in her power to keep him there longer.

The pink haired pixie had taken to working on the crossword puzzle in the newspaper Sebastian had left out on the coffee table in the living room. She had needed to break the lead off a pencil in order to fill in the blanks. Attempting to wield a human sized pencil was a mistake she had already made in the past. 

“Six letter word for walking in a leisurely manner…” Ambry murmured to herself.

It was at this moment that she heard the rattle of the front door opening. Her eyebrows furrowed. It had hardly been ten minutes since Sebastian had left. “Maybe he forgot something.” Ambry thought as she watched the door slowly open. That idea was quickly snuffed out as she realized the person standing in the doorway wasn’t Sebastian at all, or anyone that she recognized for that matter. 

The strange man had light beige skin, dark, narrow eyes, and an undercut hairstyle in which the length of black hair fell to one side of his head. He was dressed in ripped jeans, an olive green shirt, and a leather jacket. But most striking were the dark black lines on his neck. The tattoos ran up from beneath his shirt to just under his jaw. 

However, despite her reservations, Ambry had taken her new job in stride. After all these months she was even beginning to get used to being in the human world. For a long time she’d been totally freaked out by how huge everything and everybody was. It had taken a while for her to just get used to being around her witch, who was a staggering six feet tall!

Now, for the most part Ambry was accustomed to being tiny in a world of giants. Just how fascinating the human world was was usually enough to distract her. But there were still days when she felt miserably out of place. Today was going to be one of those days.

Ambry’s witch, called Sebastian Altalune, was an incredibly intelligent and well put together young man. His reserved disposition was a complete opposite to Ambry’s energetic and outgoing nature, which had led to plenty of spats in the past. That being said, they’d learned to get along for the most part.

Sebastian was typically so calm and steady, Ambry had seen no issue in sprawling out in the middle of the potion room while she read through the latest issue of her favorite human magazine.

“Blackthorn, blackthorn, where is the blackthorn?” Sebastian muttered to himself as he searched through the various bottles, boxes, and drawers that contained his potion ingredients.

Ambry glanced up briefly to look at the human. As always he was dressed entirely in dark colors. Today he wore a long black sweater that reached past his knees. From the shoulders to the end of the sleeves there was a gray speckled pattern. Beneath the sweater was a black turtleneck the same shade as his pants. All the black contrasted starkly with the man’s incredibly pale skin as well as the white hair atop his head. Long bangs fell across his face while the rest was pulled back into half a ponytail. The look was completed with a black rimmed hat that sat on the back of his head as well as a pair of circular wire rimmed glasses on his face.

“Ooh, this place sells candy shaped like different animals!” Ambry exclaimed, her attention returned to the massive magazine laid out in front of her.

“I know I bought some just last week.” Sebastian said to himself, his words going completely unnoticed by Ambry as she continued to read.

The floor vibrated under Ambry with Sebastian’s hurried footsteps moving across the room. She’d grown so used to it that she was able to ignore it entirely now.

“They sell rainbow cotton candy too!” The pixie gasped, her pale yellow wings fluttering behind her in excitement. “We absolutely have to go now!”

“Damn it, if I can’t complete this potion in time they’ll have my head.” Sebastian cursed.

So immersed in her reading, Ambry hadn’t heard the witch’s statement, nor had she taken note of the quickly approaching rumbling coming towards her until the last second. Ambry glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Sebastian’s black socked foot poised right over top of her. Her eyes went big but there was nothing she could do before the vast appendage landed on her back.

The pressure wasn’t too intense, which thankfully meant the human must not have been putting his whole weight on the foot. However, the weight was enough to keep Ambry effectively pinned to the floor. She glanced over her shoulder and craned her neck to shoot a sour look up at the man who had just trodden on her.

“You’re so small, I didn’t see you.” Sebastian defended before finally lifting his foot off of the five inch pixie.

Scowling, Ambry jumped to her feet. She took a brief moment to shake out her assaulted wings before flying up into the air and directly in front of the witch’s face. “Oh I’m so sorry such a small and inconsequential creature such as myself got in the way of your mighty foot.” She said, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

Sebastian simply rolled his emerald green eyes. “I don’t have time for this.” He stated simply before stepping around Ambry to continue his ingredient search.

Adrien’s eyebrows rose up at this information. “He stepped on you?” He questioned as though he couldn’t quite believe it. 

“Not on purpose, but still.” Ambry clarified haughtily. “And then afterwards he just said ‘you’re so small, I didn’t see you’!” An angry glower formed on her face at the memory.

Lips pressed together, Adrien remained silent for a moment. “I suppose he must have been stressed out with making that potion for Mr. Malovich.” He finally responded. 

The name ‘Malovich’ was familiar to Ambry. She could recall it being a major talking point at the last meeting of Sebastian and Adrien’s coven. Apparently this Mr. Malovich guy was some important rich guy who had chosen their coven to craft a special potion for him. As one of the best potion masters in the coven, Sebastian had been selected to brew this potion. 

“I’m not saying that excuses him stepping on you of course.” Adrien spoke up when Ambry didn’t reply right away. 

Casting her gaze down at the piece of french toast in her hands, Ambry kept her silence. It was unusual for her, but at this moment she really didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to explain what she was feeling, especially to a human. This was about more than just Sebastian stepping on her, however, that had been the event that had made her finally realize that something had been gnawing at the back of her mind. 

The fact of the matter was, no matter how talkative she was, how loud she spoke, how energetic she acted, Ambry still felt absolutely miniscule in the human world. Just looking across the table at Adrien now sent a wave of intimidation over her, and he was someone she knew she could trust. It was like Ambry’s instincts were hardwired to urge her away from giant beings.

“Hey.” Ambry was snapped out of her deep thoughts by the gentle but firm voice of Adrien. She looked up to see he had bent over so that his face was closer to her level. He was offering a kind smile, but Ambry could see a glint of concern in his hazel eyes. 

“Sorry, I don’t mean to act spacey.” She apologized quietly. Ambry took in a steadying breath. “I just feel like I’m too small for this world sometimes.” She kept her gaze from meeting Adrien’s. 

Ambry heard a loud creak as Adrien readjusted in his chair. The amplified sounds the giant humans made was just another thing that set her on edge. Not that she blamed Adrien, it wasn’t his fault her ears were so small and sensitive. 

“Have you ever told Sebastian you felt like this?” Adrien asked after a long moment of silence had stretched out between the two of them. 

Ambry shook her head. Today was the first time she had ever even spoken these feelings out loud. It was almost as if she’d been afraid that if she voiced them, that would confirm that they were true. And Ambry had been trying so hard to pretend she was dealing with her new life just fine. 

“I know Sebastian isn’t the most easy person to talk to all the time,”  Adrien started, “but I really think you should tell him about this.” Ambry lifted her eyes to look at the witch sitting across from her. His expression was serious and firm, but still possessed the characteristic amiability that he was known for. 

It was hard to say Adrien was wrong when he looked so confident in his own advice, but Ambry couldn’t help but wonder what good it would do to confess to Sebastian. What was she supposed to say? “Hey, Sebastian. I know I’m supposed to be your companion and help you master your magic and all, but I feel totally insignificant and invisible around you and pretty much everything else.” What would that solve? Maybe Sebastian would be more careful and strive not to step on her anymore, but that really wasn’t the crux of the issue. There was no way to change the fact that Ambry just didn’t fit into the human world. The Council should never have sent a pixie, let alone her, to be a witch’s companion. 

Seeming to take notice of Ambry’s uncertainty, Adrien once again bent down so Ambry didn’t have to crane her next at all to look him in the eyes. “I know you may not see the benefit, but just trust me on this, ok?” The guy practically looked like a giant puppy dog with the face he was making. There was no way Ambry could say no to that.

Sebastian, roused by the contact, began to stir, letting out a tired groan as he went to roll onto his back. Ambry lifted back into the air, happily waiting until his eyes popped open and took in the sight of the pixie flying above him.

At first, an annoyed look formed on Sebastian’s face. His shoulder length white hair was atypically messy, long bangs mussed across his face. He looked about ready to complain about his rude awakening when he seemed to recall recent events, namely the state he had last seen Ambry in. His eyes went wide as he quickly sat up straight in bed.

Ambry flitted backwards to make room for the rising human, an amused smile on her face as he registered her change in size. “I’m back to normal!” She cheered, giving a happy little twirl mid-air.

“I can see that.” Sebastian remarked. Rather than the dry tone he would normally take, he actually sounded pleased, there was a grin on his face and everything.

Of course Sebastian was still totally massive compared to her, but their current size difference was something she could handle. She had spent months working on acclimating to the size of the human world, she was fairly confident in her ability to interact with it comfortably. If she’d had to get used to being two inches tall...well Ambry didn’t know if her sanity would have stayed intact. After that whole experience, five inches was plenty enough for her.

Sebastian resituated himself so he sat with his back against the headboard of his bed. He pulled his knees up, creating a blanketed hill behind Ambry. She didn’t hesitate to take a seat on one of the human’s knees. Despite the excitement, she was still physically fairly tired from her lack of sleep.

It wasn’t until after she had gotten herself comfortable on her new perch that she looked back at Sebastian’s face. She was a bit startled to see the content expression had been replaced by one far more serious. “Why did you never tell me about your ability?”

Ambry didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what ability of hers he was referring to. She combed her fingers absentmindedly through her pink waves, trying to find the best way to explain the situation to a human. Sebastian may have been a witch, and one fairly well versed in the cultures of magical begins, but he was still a human. Pixie behavior didn’t always make sense with his purely logic driven mindset.

“It’s not something we feel the need to advertise.” Ambry started with a slight shrug. “It’s so rare that one of us actually uses it.” Honestly, it was something that only ever came to mind in dire situations. Otherwise it really didn’t hold a prominent place in her thoughts.

“But pixies must have purposefully kept it from humans, otherwise it would be written about in textbooks.” Sebastian pointed out, a note of frustration rising in his tone. As a scholar, he didn’t like knowledge being kept hidden for the sake of it.

Ambry sighed. “I don’t know, I guess we just figured keeping our last line of personal defense a secret was for the best.”

Sebastian opened his mouth to counter the pixie but seemed to stop himself when realization hit. Ambry assumed he must have realized that if Kole had known about her ability to reduce her size, he would have accounted for that. This would have meant that she likely wouldn’t have been able to get out of the criminal’s clutches earlier. “I suppose that makes sense.” Sebastian relented. And Ambry could tell that, while he was itching to get this new information published in the next textbook, he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to give up the pixies’ secret.

“Besides,” Ambry started, arms folded over her chest, “you can’t even say anything about withholding information when you never told me my wings are apparently so damn valuable.” She allowed a tinge of bitterness to seep into her voice.

Sebastian seemed to almost visibly wince at Ambry’s words. There was definitely some guilt there, which kind of took the wind out of her accusatory sails. “I didn’t...I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily.” He admitted, his dark green eyes downcast. “I thought hardly anyone even knew about pixie wing potions anymore.”

It was impossible to ignore how genuine Sebastian sounded. It was obvious he really hadn’t thought anyone would ever try to abduct his companion to obtain her wings. Which meant it was unfortunately difficult for Ambry to be too hard on him. Yes, he should have told her, but she could see why he hadn’t.

“Tomorrow, the whole coven is coming over to help cast protection spells on the house.” Sebastian promised, lifting his gaze to meet Ambry’s. “And until Kole is caught, I think it’d be best for you to stick around me, or Adrien, or anyone in the coven.”

Ambry quirked a single eyebrow. It wasn’t overly frequent, but there were occasional instances in which Sebastian would display a somewhat overprotective side. Normally she would get outright angry with him for trying to govern her life too closely, but given recent events she couldn’t pretend there wasn’t some sense to what he was saying. There was no reason to believe Kole wouldn’t make another attempt at nabbing her, and she was not about to be so easily abducted again.

“I’ll take that into consideration.” Ambry told the white haired witch. Sebastian almost looked like he wanted to argue but seemed to think better of it and instead provided an accepting nod. Certainly a wise choice on his part. “Alright, well I’m pooped.” She announced, flying up off of Sebastian’s knee and turning back towards her house.

Ambry was about to head off when she suddenly felt a gentle but firm grip take hold of her right hand. She glanced over her shoulder to see her hand being dwarfed between two of Sebastian’s fingers. She gave the witch a questioning look.

“Maybe since the house hasn’t been protected yet, you should stay close by tonight.” He suggested. “You know, just in case.” Sebastian’s expression was calm and well schooled, but she could swear she noticed a slight bit of red color the pale skin of his cheeks.

To say that Ambry was surprised by the witch’s proposal would be an understatement. She had once teasingly asked if she could sleep next to him in bed. He had failed to pick up on her joking tone and had gone on to insist upon how ridiculous such a notion was when she had her own perfectly good bed. Ambry realized Sebastian really must have been concerned about the possibility of Kole making a reappearance if he was willing to suggest something like this.

“Are you going to get my bed out of my house or--”

“I was thinking you could just sleep on the other pillow.” Sebastian gestured to the pillow beside his own, the one that would belong to another human if they were to share a bed with him. Ambry could feel the tips of her pointed ears heating up, though she couldn’t exactly be sure why.

“Um, I guess that’s fine.” Ambry finally said after a long pause. “Hold on, let me just grab something.” Sebastian released her hand, allowing her to swiftly dart into her house, grab a blanket and fly back in a matter of moments.

After that, Ambry settled herself down on the massive pillow. It was like lying on a cloud. And the light blanket she’d grabbed was more than enough for the summer night. When she turned to her right to glance over at Sebastian, she could see that he too had settled down onto his pillow, his head turned towards her. “Goodnight.” He said quietly, his eyes already beginning to droop.

“Night night.” Ambry replied with a soft smile.

Ambry attempted to struggle against the firm grip around her lower half, only resulting in a quick but painful squeeze from the fingers on her neck. That put an end to her squirming.

“Please, just let her go.” Ambry hated the desperation in Sebastian’s voice. It was so uncharacteristic.

“Yeah, your time for making requests has passed.” Kole said with a derisive snort. “So here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to get rid of your little ring of fire and stand back like a good little witch.” He stated. “I’m going to leave with the pixie. So long as you don’t interfere, she gets to live to see another day.”

Ambry could feel the walls closing in around them. Sebastian was a great witch and one of the most clever people she’d ever known. She suspected if he put his mind to it he could manage a way to stop Kole. The problem was, he would never even try. Ambry could tell by the look on Sebastian’s face that he wasn’t willing to try anything when her life was at stake. Meaning he would have to let Kole make off with her. That wasn’t something she was willing to accept.

There was still one option open to Ambry. It was something she would never even consider in normal circumstances, and to be honest, she didn’t even know if it would work. Every pixie knew of the innate ability they all possessed, but they were taught at a young age how temperamental it could be. Ambry had been in some pretty dire straits before, but she’d never had to resort to this. However, with her back against the wall, she saw no other choice.

Ambry allowed her eyes to slide shut. “Please let this work.”

She set her intention, mentally ordering her body to follow through on the command. It wasn’t long before a tingling sensation began to take over. It spread from the top of her head to the tips of her fingers. And then suddenly all of her muscles tensed, and the tight grip from human hands disappeared from her body.

Ambry’s eyes flew open just in time to see the world whizzing by as she fell down towards the floor. Her entire body felt weak and achy, but she forced her wings to flutter just enough to surge herself forward and soften the landing. She ended up colliding with the white rug that was laid out in front of the bedroom door. The same rug Sebastian was currently standing on.

Lifting her gaze, Ambry took in the sight of her witch, only it was unlike any other time she’d looked at him before. Sebastian had always been big, but now it was like looking at a skyscraper. The black pointed tip boots a few feet in front of her were larger than cars, and the legs that rose up from them seemed to stretch on forever. But it wasn’t Sebastian that had gotten bigger. She had gotten smaller, and significantly smaller it seemed.

Sebastian’s attention seemed to be entirely focused on staring down at where she lay on the floor. Ambry didn’t necessarily blame him for being shocked, but the point of her daring escape had been to give him the chance to deal with Kole.

Ambry heard a whooshing sound come from behind her. She looked over her shoulder to find that Kole had disappeared entirely. Apparently Sebastian had lost his focus enough for his trapping spell to fizzle out, which Kole had taken advantage of by teleporting out of there. The bad guy had gotten away, but Ambry didn’t have the energy to care. In fact, she didn’t have the energy for much of anything.

With a moan, Ambry let her head fall sideways to the floor. The tall carpet strands of the rug blocked out most of her vision, though she could still see small glimpses of the alarmingly gigantic room around her.

Unconsciousness was quickly creeping up on the pixie. Her eyelids drooped and her head swam. It was only a matter of time before she passed out, which was almost welcome at this point. Ambry was more than willing to postpone having to deal with the repercussions of the stunt she’d just pulled. Even just the small peeks of the world from her new perspective had already left her feeling nauseous.

It was then that Ambry heard a loud rustling of fabric and felt a rush of air that nearly felt tornadic. Laying on her stomach with her head to the side as she was, Ambry couldn’t see what was happening directly in front of her. But if the massive shadow that had cast itself over her form was any indication, she’d have to guess Sebastian had crouched down in front of her.

“Oh my god.” His voice was like thunder, despite the fact she could tell the words had been spoken in a low tone.